Part Princess, Part Cop

Miss A wants to be a Cop when she grows up...so she can arrest people. I love this girl! She gives me a workout! Gillaine, let me tell you...I was SORE when I woke up the next morning! Miss A really does melt my heart, she even drew me pictures with her name on them! Too sweet! This is who I have J betrothed to. She will keep him on his toes! Anyhow, I wanted to give her mama a sneak peak!

Baby Steps

I am hoping to get a photo tomorrow, (if I can get E to help me)...but K took his first two steps today! He took them to me, so I couldn't get the camera & he wouldn't walk to dad. I do feel special tho. If he won't say "mama"...at least he'll walk to me! Yes, we're encouraging the walking...we kept saying that we were going to kick his legs out from under him if he tried to walk, (NOT REALLY! Just a joke cuz they grow up too fast...), but it's a fun game for the entire fam...we all sit in a circle & try to get him to walk. :) He usually sits down if he thinks that we're trying to get him to walk. You can get places a lot quicker when you crawl!

Standouts

I love standouts! If you haven't seen the standouts, ask me about them at your next sesseion & I'll show you in person! Standouts, (3/4" foamboard that 'standout' from the wall) are my personal favorite way to display photos. I put together these 11x14collages for the K family & mom chose to have them mounted on standout (she saw one that I put together for K). We emailed back & forth to choose the photos from their session & the quote that fit each girl the best. I used the colors that mom is using in each of their rooms.

Love Story

I've got to say...this was one of my favorite sessions ever! I love that I got to capture their love for each other & I will get to photograph their wedding. It's sure to be fabulous!

An Inspiring Man

Prayers & thoughts are with the Pausch family today. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/07/25/obit.pausch.ap/index.html . If you haven't seen his lecture, it's worth watching. http://youtube.com/watch?v=nwO7EnM0zWM .

Teeth, Imagination & Wonder

Wow! I was having a serious case of guilt because I have been so busy photographing others, that I haven't had time for my own babes. You can tell who is a willing subject & who isn't...well, K can't run yet.... :)
Here is M & her beautiful new smile. J was "selling dogs" in his fort. He kept asking me to climb up & by a dog. :) I'm a sucker for cute boys, so I bought a dog. It's in the form of a skateboard w/ Scooby Doo on it. It's the coolest dog ever cuz it doesn't poop! So, if you're in the market for a poopless dog...J has one for ya!
As for K...he was in HEAVEN! He had the living room all to himself & got to "play the Wii" without the big kids telling him no! How cool is that?! I think that he was wondering why I wasn't telling him No. He quickly tired of the wii-mote & moved on to a balloon. I love the curiosity & discovery. I can't believe that he is almost ONE! Oh! K "talks" a lot...mostly, "oooh, oooh, oooh!" when he is over stimulated with something, such as a balloon. He's been saying, "da-da" for a couple of months now. His latest word is NO. When he is scolded, he mimics the scolders expression & says, "oh oh!". In the same tone. He is a really good mimic. He can mimic the exact sound of the dogs bark & they have chats. I honestly think that they understand eachother. He mimics conversations. I'm rather impressed. M has this same talent. She often imitates her friends voices & laughs. It cracks me up because she's usually right on. This trait does have its drawbacks. She can mimic Spongebob & other annoying charachters.
M stayed at a friends tonight, so J had a friend sleepover. Tomorrow, I'll post a photo or two of J's first sleepover. We lucked out tho...we have hyper boys, but that doesn't even come close to little girls squealing. The boys were annoyed with E & I...we made them sleep in M's room. J & K share a room & the boys kept waking him up...so, we moved them. They weren't happy about sleeping with a pink comforter. AND to top my night off...J has reached the "it's embarrassing to kiss mom in front of your friends" stage. WAAAHHH! I stole one anyhow!

Growing up

Mo FINALLY lost another tooth. Her two top, front teeth have been loose for about a year. One finally came out in an ice cream cone. She's already lost her bottom front teeth. I'll try to get photos tomorrow. I have a wedding tomorrow & all of my gear is packed up. In the chaos over M's tooth, we discovered that J has TWO loose teeth! I shouldn't be surprised because they both were early teethers & M had loose teeth at that age, but he's my baby, (ok...he's not the baby any more, but he was for 3yrs)! It's amazing, you expect your first to go through all of the milestones, but it's harder with the younger kids. J is starting preschool this year...I'm having issues with that too. I think that's hard for me because he's my independent boy that needs mama more than he likes to let on. I'll be a wreck when it's K's turn. Speaking of K...he'll be walking soon. I'll probably be in a straight jacket because of my busy boy. He's naughty & then he flashes his sweet, innocent little grin & I melt. He's usually "naughty" because of the big kids leaving doors open, or things on the floor. I think that he has random cravings for books. The minute it is within reach, he crawls, (like a madman), toward it & tries to chow down. The other too weren't crazy paper eaters like he is. I seriously can't keep up with him. I never had a problem keeping the house clean when the other two were little. E comes home & looks at me like, "what did you do all day?". E has started calling K "tasmanian devil". I start unloading the dishwasher & the next thing I know, K is "helping" & standing in the dishwasher. Or, he will just disappear. I will go look for him & find that one of the big kids has left the bathroom door open & K is stirring the water with a pencil. I am OCD when it comes to germs & cleanliness. This sends me over the edge. K gets stripped & bathed. While he is playing in the tub, I scrub the bathroom, hoping that if the door gets left open again...he'll have a clean toilet to play in. EWWWW! K is the busiest little man that I have ever seen. M was content to just sit & play in the tupperware cabinet when she was his age. J is my sleepy head...he would crawl in the same cabinet & fall asleep on the lazy susan, (I have that photo around here somewhere). If I try to occupy K with the tupperware cabinet...he just looks at it & crawl over to the bookshelf in the other room & tries to rip all of the books off. I swear, he's thinking, "oooh! paper! must eat!". Oh well, they are there own little people with their own little ideas. I have said it before...I've always been a sucker for ornery boys. I'm also a sucker for my little toothless princess.

The Rockstar

Song Lyrics by M (Age6):

I Am A Rockstar
Rock On
I rock all nite
Nevr stop
Rock on
I play on the guitar
I wanna be a rockstar
I practis and I practis
All nite
Rock on

The only word that she asked for help with was "guitar". I am always so impressed by her creativity!

Another contest!

At Cinnamon Sticks Boutique.


http://cinnamonsticksboutique.blogspot.com/

Check out this link to try to win a beautiful quilt

But...the selfish part of me wants to win it! Isn't it beautiful!

Recent Session

Isn't she the sweetest! Summer, that's a quick sneak peek for ya! :)

Graffiti Weekend

We were literally at the Show n' Shine for about 30 min. I am not a fan of the heat. Nor are our children. Here are a few of my favorites. I couldn't decide how I wanted the truck photo...so, I am showing both plays. Check out the bug that M found. M thought that the bug was attracted to this car because they were the same color. :) J kept asking when we were going to "go in & get cotton candy". He thought that we were in the parking lot at the fair.

Fabulous blog!

Check out some beautiful jewelry here;

http://cinnamonsticksboutique.blogspot.com/

My birthday is coming, so I sent E a little hint. I don't wear a whole lot of jewelry, but I love the beauty & simplicity of these.

Lizard hunting attire

J dashed outside to try to catch a lizard. I am constantly yelling at the kids to put shoes on because I get tired of digging splinters out of their feet. So, J didn't want to waste time going downstairs to find his own shoes & grabbed the closest pair at the back door...his sisters beloved pink cowgirl boots. He was annoyed that I made him stop for a quick photo. He thinks that he's going to catch a lizard or snake & keep it in that box. He usually collects beetles & roly polys & keeps them in there until they die. Last week, he crammed them in a shell. I was stretched out on the couch feeding K & felt something on my leg. I looked down & almost jumped off of the couch. There was a beetle on my leg & several more crawling on the couch. At least it wasn't a snake.

Are we ready for potty training?

Ok, maybe that's wishful thinking. This is what happens when K is left unattended for 5min. I came back into the room to find him playing in the TP. Seriously, I was right around the corner, loading the dishwasher & realized that he was quiet. How on earth did he get it open & that quickly? He giggled & squeeled when he saw me. Then he threw the TP at me. Then came crawling toward me, collecting more TP on the way. The older two were appalled that I would photograph him doing such a thing. Gosh, he looks like E's dad so much in these photos. I'm thinking that it's the innocent blue eyes coupled with the ornery expression. As ornery as he is...he makes me want another, (that's the temporary insanity talking, cuz we're NOT having any more).

A clip to make you smile

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Copy & paste...blogger isn't allowing me to make the link clickable. grr. :)

Makes me happy!

Princess Session & Contest

I would like to announce a fun session & contest for the month of August. I thought that it would be fun to have a "dress-up" session for little girls! I have several fun pettiskirts, (pinks, blue, black, rainbow, brown), or you are welcome to bring your own dress-up clothes. We can head to the Art's Center, a local park, or any (local) location of your choice. I will also bring necklaces, a free standing mirror, chaise lounge, etc. A fun aspect of this session is that I will be posting my favorite photo from each session (on my blog) & for viewers to vote on. The winning Princess will receive a gift certificate for a session, (to be used at a later date), & a free 8x10 standout print of the winning image. I have posted some images from past "dress-up" sessions. Just call the studio, or send me an email to get your session scheduled! *Session fee is due at the time of the session.*
Don't forget, if you have a Tom Boy, (like me), we can go a more "grunge" route & put some temporary tattoos on...they would look great with some converse, black pettiskirt & a tank top!

Snakes & water fights

E found a garter snake while working in the backyard. The kids LOVE snakes. Actually, the next day, my little sis brought her kids over to play. My sis is fond of critters, so she & J went snake hunting. They kept picking up rocks from our rockwall at the back of our property...they kept finding snakes! Every time Jill would lift up a rock & we would see a snake, I would scream, which would send the kids into shrieks & fits of giggles. Anyhow, back to the point...E found this snake & the kids, (they were begging to hold it & E wouldn't let them), wanted me to take photos of it so M could add it to the critter photo collection that I have started for her in her bedroom. I love lizards & frogs. I can also handle snails, so I'm ok w/ all of those. I don't think that I can put laundry away w/o having an anxiety attack if a snake photo is in her room. I hate the things. I also added a photo of J scowling at me while "helping" E with the landscaping project. Oh! I can't forget the water fight. I filled up a bunch of balloons for the kids & their friend Justin, (neighbor). E decides to pelt our kids w/ the balloons & soaks them right off. No mercy from dad. J gets ticked & goes for the hose. E can dish it out, but he doesn't like to lose. J was screaming mad & E started pouting when J got him w/ the hose. I told the kids that whoever nailed E w/ a balloon got a piece of cake. So, Justin, got a determined look on his face. Marched over, got a balloon & nailed E. Ha! Take that from a 6yo E! I didn't get photos of that because I was trying to get my camera out of the line of fire. Bummer.

A few favs from our camping trip

So, we saw that it was going to be 95+ degrees this weekend...so, we packed up the trailer & headed to Bandon. The weather in town was great, but it was brisk & windy down at the beach. I'm always warm, so it was perfect for me...not so much for E & the kids. My new fav photo of M is of her screaming her head off. I thought that it was because she was cold. Later, she told us that it was because her brother had told her that he saw a LIVE crab. That's my J...forever trying to scare his sister. The girl loves reptiles, (that's my next post) & bugs, but can't handle a crab. I have a tendency to get the giggles when M starts pulling out the drama queen card. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do when you're the only girl child. Ridiculous. Other than the one meltdown...it was a great trip. The kids roasted their own marshmallows for the first time. J was unusually sweet, (he's our ornery child), except for teasing me with a stick or pretending to flick a booger on me,(he had to get a bit of orneriness in), when I was trying to take his photo. We would go for evening walks around the campground, (the kids were on their bikes & K in the stroller) & J would turn around & check on me to make sure I was ok...I'm not sure why he thought that I wouldn't be, but it was sweet. E was lagging behind with the dog. It was Blu's first leash experience...between the leash & everybody stopping E to see the dog...we made it around the campground once & caught up with him. I'm also working on a personal project involving flowers, scenery, etc. So, here are a few photos for my project & some of my favorite camping photos. Oh, E has a tendency to either have his mouth open, or his eyes closed...in EVERY photo with him in it...or else, he steps in front of the camera when I'm trying to get a photo of the kids, so I get half a cheek & half of the kids...grr.